


Pieces

by kurokobun



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, don't ask questions because I don't even know dudes, it's a prompt from an anon, soul!mate AU ish, the MuraHimu pair is very brief unfortunately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-02-05 23:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1835998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurokobun/pseuds/kurokobun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darkness. It was the first thing he remembered. It was dark and it was cold, and he was scared. He felt like that for a long time, walking aimlessly amongst these people that looked like him, but could never see him. They couldn’t feel his touch, his digits slipped through whenever he tried to reach for them, and he wondered so many times when someone — anyone — would be able to acknowledge his presence.</p><p>What he was meant to do, or why he was here — that he didn’t know.</p><p>But then, one day, he saw the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: kagakuro --> "He sees me..." (totally not inspired by ROTG or anything nope.)
> 
> I started writing on this prompt without a plan in my head, and it is probably not like much you've read before, but I somehow liked the way this turned out. Also, there needs to be more KagaKuro fanfics going around. I have cravings.

_Darkness_. It was the first thing he remembered. It was dark and it was cold, and he was scared. He felt like that for a long time, walking aimlessly amongst these people that looked like him, but could never see him. They couldn’t feel his touch, his digits slipped through whenever he tried to reach for them, and he wondered so many times when someone — _anyone_ — would be able to acknowledge his presence.

What he was meant to do, or why he was here — that he didn’t know.

But then, one day, he saw the light. It was so _big_ and it was so _bright_ , and only for a second he thought it was something greater than the sun, but then it dimmed down and in its place he could make out a human being.

It was a red haired male, strongly built — very tall, towering over him, practically — with a handsome, yet slightly intimidating face. He had crimson eyes that met his own for just a brief moment as he went to pick up a basketball by his feet, and Kuroko hoped, no _begged_ , it wasn’t just his imagination playing tricks on him.

Could he…?

“What are you looking at?”

It didn’t matter that his voice sounded gruff, and annoyed, because it was directed at him. Someone — this guy that was practically _shining_ before him with something he could not explain — could _see_ him. He was visible to another person for the first time in what felt, no, what had to be, years. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

 _He sees me_.

“Taiga, who are you talking to?” It was then he noticed another person on the basketball court with the tall redhead. He had dark hair, and an overall pretty face. He tilted his head in pure confusion. “We’re the only ones here.”

“Wha—? You mean you can’t see him?” The one named Taiga pointed a finger in his direction, and Kuroko’s inner struggle intensified. If the redhead believed that he was seeing an illusion, would it all go away? Would he not be able to see him anymore? The thought alone almost caused him to hyperventilate. No. God, no. Someone was finally seeing him. He couldn’t — _wouldn’t_ let that go.

“Taiga, are you feeling okay?” The pretty boy frowned now.

There was a pause. Kuroko wanted to speak up, but to his utter and complete dread the redhead shook his head before he could and said: “Sorry, must’ve been something I saw. Freaky. Anyway, head’s up!” He then passed the ball, and Kuroko slid down on his knees, fingers shaking, and lower lip trembling.

 _Please… he-he **saw me**_.

For some reason, he stayed. He felt empty, heartbroken, and cold, but he longingly watched the light radiating off the redhead on the basketball court nevertheless. Something in him made it very hard for him to just walk away, and even when this person — Kagami Taiga, as he learned — was on his way home, he wasn’t able to go anywhere.

He followed him back to a roomy apartment, watched as he sauntered into the bathroom, and later emerged with moist hair, and a towel wrapped around his waist. Kuroko was drawn to _something_ , as if his mind told him Kagami Taiga was _warm_ , and since Kuroko was so cold warmth was exactly what he sought after.

Maybe he would’ve reached out and touched him, but he stopped mid-motion when he heard Kagami speak.

“Why did you follow me back home?”

Kuroko sharply inhaled, his fingers starting to tremble with hope. This time he found his voice instantly. “You can really see me?” he whispered. It had been a lie? He hadn’t told his friend the truth, because, unlike Kagami, he couldn’t see?

“Yeah. I’m guessing not a lot of people can… Oi, a-are you _crying_?!”

Kuroko smiled, and realized that yes, the wetness of his face was definitely tears, but he welcomed them.  Since they seemed to make Kagami uncomfortable, however, he wiped them away with is sleeve, and took a deep breath. “I apologize, Kagami-kun. I am… just overwhelmed. You can… see me.”

Apparently, Kuroko wasn’t the first… well, whatever he was, that Kagami had seen that no one else could. The redhead got dressed and told him about his life in America, where he would sometimes see these people that no one else knew were there. He thought they were ghosts at first — causing quite a few nights where he hadn’t slept very well — but they never did him any harm. In return Kuroko told him his name, and how that was all the information he had on himself, of how he’d been alone for as long as he could remember, and that Kagami was like a light in the dark to him, because somehow Kagami acknowledged his existence in a world where no one else did.

“They always looked happy I could see ‘em, you know,” Kagami murmured a couple of hours later as Kuroko watched him make curry in pure fascination. He didn’t eat himself considering he somehow didn’t _have_ to and it didn’t taste anything when did, but the art of cooking still interested him. The blue haired male glanced up as Kagami continued. “But they also seemed _disappointed_. I couldn’t ask them why, ‘cause I’ve always been with other people who couldn’t see them when it happened, but you didn’t look like them. You just looked devastated when I had to trick Tatsuya into thinking it wasn’t anyone there after all.”

Kuroko glanced down at his hands. He folded and unfolded his fingers over and over again, mostly to distract himself, but also because he somehow had not lost the urge to reach out and touch this one person he had talked to since he woke up. Considering, all he could remember was his name, and nothing else, not why he existed, or what he was or why no one could see him, except for Kagami Taiga, it wasn’t that weird to want to be close to the redhead he supposed.

“Try to put yourself in my position, Kagami-kun. I don’t know who I am, what my purpose is or why I’m here… I don’t know why people can’t see me, or why you’re the only one I’ve ever encountered that can. Don’t you think you would’ve felt the same way? So… overwhelmed you finally have someone to talk to that isn’t yourself.”

Kagami fetched a pair of plates, and Kuroko was about to protest that it really wasn’t necessary, but somehow that felt… _rude_ , so he let it be. “I’d probably go crazy. You’re surprisingly sane for being alone so long.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment, Kagami-kun?”

“You’re also strangely good at communicating,” Kagami noted with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Maybe it is because of you.” Kuroko had placed himself in his seat, looking over the meal that smelled so heavenly that it was a shame it wouldn’t taste anything in his mouth. He quirked an eyebrow when the tall male in front of him dug in, eating, quite frankly, like a starved pig. Kuroko didn’t let his disgust show, however. Instead, he took a scoop of the curry, and put it to his mouth. He could at least _pretend_ to—

He froze.

Kagami stopped the consummation of his dinner to blink at him. “Hey, you okay?”

A smile spread over Kuroko’s lips.

He could… taste it.

––———

The fact that he was able to taste food was just one of many changes to come. It happened gradually, but that didn’t matter. Kuroko was simply overjoyed they were happening at all considering it was almost too good to be true.

Each day he would wake up, and feel more real. As if he’d been see-through his entire life and was slowly gaining colours. He spent months in Kagami’s apartment, learning about the redhead that continued to spread a light that drew him in like a moth to a flame. They still didn’t know what Kuroko was or why Kagami supposedly could see people in Kuroko’s own situation when Kuroko himself couldn’t, but as time passed the strangeness surrounding how they’d met and Kuroko’s existence mattered less and less.

On the sixth month of his stay Kuroko came walking into the living room where Kagami was sitting by the coffee table, eyebrows scrunched up in irritation. He was doing homework, and although that usually did make such an expression appear on his light’s face, it somehow felt different this time.

“Are you all right, Kagami-kun?” He enquired.

The redhead glanced up, first looking like he didn’t want to elaborate, before his eyes widened slightly. “Is that my shirt?”

Kuroko simply stared at him with this trademark, blank expression in tact. Kagami’s eyebrow twitched. “Yes.” The blue haired male moved forward and placed himself next to Kagami, looking up at him with those big eyes that just made him look _way_ too adorable to be a _guy_ , or so Kagami had thought on more than one occasion. Well, technically Kuroko wasn’t even a guy. He was a _something_. Like some kind of imaginary friend that was somehow real even though Kagami had no idea _how_ or _why_.

Well, for a something that could might as well be a guy, Kagami sure found himself thinking Kuroko was adorable far too often.

He often wondered if he was, perhaps, crazy, but he could never really tell. If he was crazy he didn’t want to know. He was strangely happy and content with having Kuroko living with him. Like something had meant for this to happen, like they fit together.

“You shouldn’t take other people’s clothes without asking,” he grumbled.

“I’m borrowing, Kagami-kun.”

“S’way too big on you.”

“I like it. It’s roomy.”

Apparently, that was the end of that discussion. Kagami kept quiet and instead continued to scribble down on a paper that looked like it had been thoroughly abused. Kuroko raised an eyebrow, before poking Kagami’s arm. “Are you going to tell me what is bothering you?” He then asked.

“Just family.”

“That doesn’t explain much at all, Kagami-kun.”

Growling, the redhead banged his face into the table, and Kuroko blinked worriedly. “They think I’m going crazy talking to myself. Tatsuya’s overheard us—urgh, and says I need to get laid, which is just _really_ hypocritical seeing as he’s dating a major fucking _kid_. Well, he doesn’t _look_ like a kid, but he _is_ a kid mentally, and nothing Tatsuya says can prove me otherwise.”

Kagami paused, and Kuroko felt a strange twinge of guilt. The last couple of months had been strange. Wonderful, but strange. He stayed with Kagami without asking permission, the redhead had just let him, but as time went on Kuroko had almost forgotten he wasn’t really… visible. Of course, he didn’t leave Kagami’s apartment much, but he still felt bad about forgetting.

“I’m… sorry.”

Kagami snorted, hand coming to rest on Kuroko’s head. They didn’t touch each other a lot, but when they did it was always the same. Kagami’s touch was warm, and Kuroko felt his cheeks heat up. He always wanted to dive into that warmth, lean his face against Kagami’s chest, and feel the long arms wrap around his much smaller frame, but he respected Kagami more than anything else, and didn’t want to do anything he wasn’t sure the redhead approved of.

Besides, whereas Kagami’s touch was warm, Kuroko knew his was cold.

“Don’t start thinking stuff… I’m _happy_ you’re here, idiot.” Kagami’s voice was so fond and soft that Kuroko’s heart skipped a beat, and he was sure that for just a brief second he forgot how to breathe. A sigh followed. “I just wish… that, y’know, others could see you too. Partially ‘cause then people wouldn’t think I’m crazy, but _mostly_ , because I want my friends and family to meet you, and I want you to see the real world. My apartment isn’t exactly the most interesting place on Earth.”

If he was not blessed with the most brilliant of poker faces Kuroko was pretty sure his entire face would be deep red. He opened his mouth, before he promptly closed it. He didn’t know what to say, but in the end he decided on something simple. “… _Thank you_ , Kagami-kun.”

“Tch, don’t mention it.” Kagami then put two of his digits to his forehead and flicked it slightly with a smirk. Kuroko’s forehead felt warm for hours.

––———

“Hey, Taiga, who’s your friend?”

Kuroko had been sitting in the redhead’s couch, watching him silently as he’d thrown on a shirt to go out and play basketball. Kuroko was planning on going with them to watch; he was about to get up when he suddenly heard Himuro’s voice and froze. Kagami reacted the same way, the motion of putting on his shirt freezing on the spot while he looked at his brother with widening eyes. Kuroko didn’t know how long they both remained like that, but when Kagami lowered his hands, shirt falling into place, Himuro looked more than a little confused as to what had caused such a reaction.

“Y—you can see him?” Kagami stuttered.

Himuro raised an eyebrow. “Of course I can see him, Taiga. Are you feeling okay?” Normally, Kagami would not appreciate that kind of tone, because it usually indicated that Himuro was seriously questioning his sanity, but right now he was too surprised and strangely happy to care. He shook his head quickly, trying to find something to say, but Himuro had decided to ignore him and instead bowed in Kuroko’s direction.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see you there at first. My name is Himuro Tatsuya. Taiga’s brother. Nice to meet you.”

Kuroko had always thought that if _this_ were to happen he’d feel more overwhelmed. Like when Kagami saw him for the first time. Back then tears had sprung to his eyes, and warmth had spread from his chest to his limbs, filling him with pure and utter happiness and relief. Now, he felt strangely composed. Shocked, but composed.

Despite that, he did feel his lips tremble just a little when they pulled up into a small smile. _I know_ , he thought, but said instead: “My name is Kuroko Tetsuya; it’s a pleasure to meet you Himuro-kun.”

“Are you and Taiga friends from school?” Himuro asked curiously, sending his brother a side-glance as if to say he was disappointed he hadn’t met this guy before. Taiga usually didn’t bring mere acquaintances to his apartment.

“No. We… know each other from elsewhere.”

“I see. You coming with us to play?”

“I’d love to.”

“All right then. Taiga, stop gaping. What’s your _problem_?”

Kuroko’s chest bubbled. Because there it was. The happiness.

––———

Kuroko, despite his utter joy, had allowed himself to be just a tad bit worried that he would continue to be invisible to a great deal of people, and that only a selected few could see him. It would raise too many questions, he thought, but as it turned out, something had happened. He wasn’t half visible, or completely invisible anymore. People saw him. His presence was still lacking greatly, but when Himuro introduced him to his boyfriend, Murasakibara Atsushi, the purple haired male could, without a doubt, see him through-and-through.

His first day as a visible being was spent on a basketball court, and it felt strangely… comfortable. Like he was meant to be there, like everything that had happened were simply puzzle pieces that were now falling into place.

If his life was in fact a puzzle, a portrait of some kind, there were only a few pieces missing now. Otherwise, Kuroko was sure he was complete. Somehow, he was _real._

“You were always real, idiot. ‘Least to me.”

Kuroko’s head whipped to the side. They’d been walking home in silence, and although he was most aware of the fact that he hadn’t been able to wipe the smile off of his face he didn’t think he’d actually spoken those words out loud. However, soon his vaguely surprised expression fell into a content smile as he said: “I know, Kagami-kun… thank you.”

He knew that whatever pieces were missing, one had to do with Kagami, while the other had to do with his past. Why he was here, and what he’d been, because those questions were still left unanswered. However, he preferred to focus on Kagami first, simply because he wanted to. The light emitting from his companion had grown stronger all day, and Kuroko would be lying if he said it wasn’t harder to keep himself from reaching out than usual.

He didn’t know why he was so surprised when Kagami pushed him up against the door the moment they stepped into his apartment. Because he _knew_ , deep down, that the redhead had been the sole reason this had all happened to him. He didn’t know _why_ , but right now he didn’t want to question it, but he should’ve known that Kagami would cause yet another piece to fall into place.

Kuroko closed his eyes, and sighed contently through his nose, because Kagami really was a good kisser. Not that Kuroko had any experience to compare it to, but it had to be good considering he could hardly stand up when the other male released his lips. The only thing that kept him from bucking was Kagami’s strong arms around his waist.

“Kagami-kun….” he whispered, or more like rasped. His voice felt unnaturally hoarse.

“No, just… let me say something, okay?” Kagami’s face was flushed deep red, and Kuroko swore he could hear the taller male’s heartbeat echoing through the room. He served him an encouraging nod to make him continue, watching as Kagami swallowed and sighed before speaking up. “I don’t _care_ about… whatever’s going on. It’s been seven months, and this entire thing has been bizarre, but it somehow feels right and I don’t want to start questioning it. I can’t help but feel this is sort of meant to be, and I didn’t even used to believe in that sort of crap, but damnit, Kuroko, you’ve turned my entire life upside down and I _like_ it that way.”

There was a pregnant pause, before Kuroko murmured softly: “Is that your way of saying that we shouldn’t talk, but just… _do_ , Kagami-kun?”

Kagami’s face turned even redder. “Shut up,” he grumbled, and then captured his mouth again, partially to make sure there wouldn’t be another snide remark, and partially because kissing each other was the best thing that had ever happened to either of them. Tonight they wouldn’t ask questions.

There were no second thoughts as Kagami lifted Kuroko, and brought him to the bedroom. There were no second thoughts as their hands roamed over each other, touching, feeling, and warmth spreading _everywhere_. There were no second thoughts as Kagami lowered himself into Kuroko, lips moving up the smaller male’s neck, sucking and nibbling as he moved in deeper. There were no second thoughts when they were done, both sweaty and exhausted, arms wrapped around each other like they were merging into some cocoon of limbs. They just followed their instincts.

When Kuroko woke up that morning, his back was pressed against Kagami’s chest, the redhead’s bigger fingers were tangled into his own and slowly he realized that even if there was one puzzle piece missing from the entire picture, he could actually live without it.

Because, _finally_ , he wasn’t cold anymore.

He adjusted himself a bit closer to the muscled chest. Eyes closed shut, and a content smile formed on his lips when he felt Kagami’s lips brush his ear, for so ask him what he wanted for breakfast.


End file.
